The Making of an Effective Work Team - Essay Example

THE MAKING OF AN EFFECTIVE WORK TEAM Introduction A team is a group of people collaborating to reach a shared goal for which they hold themselves mutually accountable. The concept of a work team revolves around the act of people grouping as a team, like in sports, where the aim is uniform. Formulating a work team involves bringing together different personalities to form a unit workforce where the diversity in each individual’s personality, temperament, ego and character should be harnessed to bring out the best in the team instead of it being a divisive factor. The team cannot function without a central point of authority hence the need to have a team leader or a team manager. The team manager is the one charged with the responsibility of searching and enlisting of members to a team. Forming a team The process of forming a team undergoes various stages. In team management courses, the stages are listed as forming, storming, norming and performing. What the team goes through in the first stage is that the members try to temporarily give up their individuality so as not to be accused of hindering the smooth running of the team's activities. Still, they may do so to avoid confrontations and disagreements. (Lois, 2001) It is at this stage where one is bound to withhold his/her opinion on a certain issue just to avoid running against the popular flow of thought. In the second stage, members can no longer contain their differences after enduring one another in the first stage. Unless utmost care is taken, a team will disintegrate at this stage. The norming stage is reached if only the members are able to successfully solve their differences that arose in the second stage. In order to forge forward members need to appreciate their differences but be driven forward by hunger to excel and accomplish their common goal. The fourth and final stage is where the fruits of the team’s labor are visible. For a team manager to come up with the most effective team that is bound to last till the accomplishment of the task, there are some issues that he is supposed to put into consideration concerning the members that he is to recruit. Membership The team leader is solely responsible for bringing together members of his team. In his search for members he should not look for well balanced individuals, but rather individuals who balance well with each other. The members should also be committed to the realization of the common goal of the team no matter how long it takes. As such the manager should bear in mind the difference between a group and a team. A team is a group yes, of people with a high level of inter dependence directed towards realizing a common goal where else a group is number of people with a unifying factor. The team manager himself should definitely posses the leadership qualities that are adept with leaders. Basically he is the one responsible for the over all team performance. The team manager thus decides on the number of members in his team as determined by the amount of work the team intends to carryout. This ensures there are enough manpower and no duplication of roles. In order to be sure of expertise and cross functionality of the team, the team manager should ensure that the team members are from different sections of the organization, for example, a research on the performance of a certain brand in a market should draw membership from marketing, public relations and branding personnel so as to compliment one another's knowledge. (Lois, 2001) Work environment The working environment in a team helps in determining the role of each member concerning the task ahead of the team so that they can come up with a methodology of tackling the task. The team manager is responsible for making prior arrangements if need be, for example, in case the team requires to travel the team manager is to make arrangements on the mode of travel or seek permission from the necessary authorities. Again the team manager should facilitate the availability of equipments that might be needed in carrying out their task. To avoid overworking himself, the manager should delegate some of his duties to members of the team who seem capable of handling the task at hand. Training In order to help the members carry out their roles effectively, it is important that the members should first be trained on how to plan a strategy so the group can work effectively and in unison. The training should embark on emphasizing the importance of embracing team dynamics which in general discusses interdependence, conflict management, negotiation, power use and identification. Secondly the group has to be made to understand the value of performance appraisals and ensure that they are honestly filled out. (Michael, 2004) During the training, some other issues that are necessary to mention are ;domination by a few know it all, problem solving techniques, lack of trust among the members, lack of motivation, personal differences etc. Team development/building As a team pursuing a common goal, there is need to create a sense of belonging among the team mates. This is achieved through different ways but its result is what we call team building. Most organizations prefer to have their team building activities being in an out of the work place situation where the staff participate as teams e.g. tug of war, soccer match, etc. This helps in the bonding of members and recognizing one another's attributes before embarking on the actual task. (Lois, 2001) The success of the team hinges on the individual contribution of members on the realization of the goal as dictated by their behavior, talents, intellectual abilities and personality traits. In recognition of ones strength and weaknesses, each member should be assigned a role that corresponds with his capabilities. (Michael, 2004) Team organization All organizations have procedures and stipulated ways of carrying on their work. As such, a work team is no exception since it is supposed to operate wit some degree of independence from their parent organization. It is therefore of paramount importance that the team should come up with a dummy organization to help in the sharing of work. Members of the team should also come up with a way of recognizing and rewarding members who show outstanding performance. Leadership All members of the team must be made to understand the role of their team manager as their overseer in relation to the work that has been dished out to them. However the position of a team leader should be guarded with utmost care as the slightest abuse of that position could undermine the effort of the entire team. A strict code of behavior and high levels of discipline is necessary to avoid cases of members doing things that jeopardize their main mission. Offenders should be punished accordingly without favoritism. (Margerison and McCann, 1995) However the type of punishment handed to offenders should not be too harsh as to sow a seed of rebellion but be seen as a correctional measure. Apart from regulating discipline among the members of the team, the manager should be the main source of motivation and encouragement in times of difficulties. Procedure The team is supposed to analyze the task and break it down into defined objectives and showing any given deadlines. Through the leadership of the team manager, the team is to come up with a detailed program of events showing all activities and the amount of time allocated to each. The program should also show the role of each team member. (Stephen, 2003)The team will at this point arrange for meetings so as they can compare notes and check on their individual progress. At these meetings, the team manager should inform the team on new developments in their task or any change of direction in the way they handle the task. In the meetings, members should take their time to discuss problems relating to the team and solve them amicably. Success Every worker wants to be successful in his work and thus the success of the team should resonate as an individual’s achievement. For this to be realized, it is important that the team has a vision, that is, reason for doing so and their direction. If the vision is great, then the greater the feeling of success when the mission is achieved. To ensure success of the team, it is important to have productive participation of all members through contributing data and knowledge, sharing in the decision making process and reaching a consensus and also making an imposed decision work. (Stephen, 2003) Some of the major problems that hinder the success of the team are as follows conflicts between personnel ineffective meetings lack of motivation poor communication lack of trust decrease in productivity To avoid most of the problems listed above, members ought to create a participatory atmosphere, be collaborative instead of being competitive. As a result there will be increased trust and free flow of information, a fundamental element in cementing the strength and effectiveness of the team. In case of decreased productivity of the team, objectives, short term goals and deadlines need to be re-evaluated and lay emphasis on the need to work within the allocated time frame. Maturity This consists of the completion of the task and the representation of the findings together with the recommendations from the team to the management. Prior to the tackling of the task, members should evaluate on the best ways of presenting their findings, for example, graphically or any other form that suits the type of data that they are to gather. References Bodwell, Donald J. (1997). High Performance Teams. London. Longman publishers, Fisher, Kimball. (2000). leading self directed work teams: a guide to new team leadership skills. New York: McGraw Hill. Lois, G. (2001). Planning Together: The Art of Effective Teamwork, New York: Prentice Hall Margerison, C. and McCann, D. (1995). How to Lead a Winning Team, London: Oxford University Press Michael, A. (2004). Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research, New York: Prentice Hall Michael, D. (1993). Effective Teamwork, London: Haworth Press Michael, J. (1999). Behaviors that promote effective teamwork. New York: Routledge Richard, H. (2002).Groups That Work (and Those That Don't): Creating Conditions for Effectiveness. New York: John Wiley Stephen, P. (2003). Effective Teamwork Man, New York: McGraw-Hill Information on the above available from, Team building Inc. www.teambuildinginc.com (Retrieved March 15, 2008) Work Team Dynamics www.workteamdynamics.com(Retrieved March 15, 2008) Read More